Name drain: LIV loses another star in Reed
World No. 29 can play PGA Tour in the fall, will play DPWT in the meantime
Patrick Reed is ditching LIV and its 3 remaining Aces on eve of its 2026 season (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Three days after winning in Dubai, teasing that his LIV Golf status was unsigned and declaring he would really like to play again on “the best tour in the world,” Patrick Reed is heading back to the PGA Tour.
Not immediately, like Brooks Koepka. But inevitably, with his eligibility starting Aug. 25 — one year since his last LIV Golf appearance. He’ll be able to play in fall PGA Tour events as a non-member and will resume his PGA Tour career at the start of 2027 either on past-champion status or via securing his tour card as a top-10 finisher on the DP World Tour in 2026, where he’ll compete on his honorary lifetime member status. He is currently second in the Race to Dubai standings and is playing his third straight DPWT event this week at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
He will be eligible to compete in the Presidents Cup in September if selected by U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker.
“After careful thought and consideration, my family and I have decided that I will no longer compete on the LIV Golf Tour,” Reed wrote on social media just a week prior LIV Golf’s season beginning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “I am excited to announce that I am returning to the PGA Tour as a past champion member for the 2027 season and am eligible to begin competing in PGA Tour events later this year.
“I will continue to compete and play as an Honorary Lifetime Member on the DP World Tour, which is something that I am truly honored and excited to do.
“I’m a traditionalist at heart, and I was born to play on the PGA Tour, which is where my story began with my wife, Justine. … I am moving forward in my career, and I look forward to competing on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. I can’t wait to get back out there and revisit some of the best places on earth.”
Reed is the second major blow LIV Golf has taken in the offseason, as he joins fellow major winner Brooks Koepka in ditching LIV and returning to the legacy tours. Koepka is making his return “debut” on the PGA Tour this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
“I think it feels a little bit different,” Koepka said on Tuesday at Torrey Pines. “I’m definitely a little bit more nervous this week just coming back. But it feels good. I’m super grateful to be back.”
LIV Golf released a statement regarding Reed’s abrupt departure: “We were not able to come to terms with Patrick on a potential contract extension. We’re grateful for everything he contributed during his time on the 4Aces at LIV Golf and wish him the best. LIV has always been an advocate for player movement and recognizes that when golf settles into a new normal, players will not only have the right, but the opportunity to play golf when and where they want.”
New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp seems unbound by the emotional constraints of his predecessor on tour as he extends a welcome hand to LIV golfers willing to return as he just tries to build the best collection of talent available. The PGA Tour has also reinstated former members Kevin Na, Pat Perez and Hudson Swafford. Perez and Swafford will regain their eligibility at the start of 2027 after fulfilling disciplinary penalties for violating tour regulations. Na’s restoration date has not been announced due to an undisclosed disciplinary matter.
But Reed — despite his various pieces of baggage including dicey rules allegations and frivolous lawsuits against media — gets a relative fast-track based on the way he departed. He gave up his membership in 2022 before playing in a LIV Golf event. The nine-time PGA Tour winner has no current status on the tour aside from being a past champion. He can accept sponsor invites into fall events and compete as a non-member which also allows him to attempt to qualify via Mondays.
“As a result of resigning his membership in 2022 prior to violating any PGA Tour regulations, Patrick is eligible to compete on the PGA Tour as a non-member beginning on August 25, 2026,” the tour’s statement said. “He may also pursue improved PGA Tour status via the DP World Tour.
“Similar to anyone reinstated under the Returning Member Program, any former PGA Tour member returning to the PGA Tour would be ineligible for participation in the Player Equity Program through 2030.”
Reed is one of only three LIV golfers currently ranked inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, along with No. 21 Tyrrell Hatton and No. 31 Bryson DeChambeau. The 2018 Masters champion and five-time major winner Koepka were among the handful of the biggest names LIV secured when it started in 2022. Now both are going home while LIV restocked with less-than-marquee names like Thomas Detry, Laurie Canter and Ben An.
Perez, who last played for LIV Golf in 2024 but worked LIV broadcasts last year, turns 50 on March 1. He will be eligible to play in three of the PGA Tour Champions majors this season but will have to wait until 2027 to be eligible to compete on the senior tour. Swafford, who also last played LIV Golf in 2024, has been reinstated but can’t compete until 2027. The tour did not say so in its release but the penalties associated with Perez and Swafford are likely due, in part, to lawsuits the two were part of against the PGA Tour in 2022.
Na was a captain of the team formerly known as the Iron Heads for LIV Golf, which recently signed An to be the newly-branded Korean team’s captain. While reinstated, the tour said Na’s return status is unresolved.
Koepka, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith are the only players who would qualify to come back to the PGA Tour via the newly created “returning member program” which stipulates you had to have won a major between 2022-25.
“There are several factors that may impact the timeline for a player who participated in unauthorized tournaments to return, and what access they may have upon return, if they don’t meet the criteria for the Returning Member Program,” the PGA Tour’s Tyler Dennis and Jason Gore said in a memo to the membership. “Such factors include application of the non-member policy concerning unauthorized tournaments, the number of outstanding disciplinary actions, if any, and eligibility for membership and exempt status, if any, based upon prior play. Each situation is consistently evaluated under our existing regulations and policies.”
Reed will have to carve out a new schedule in the upcoming months as he prepares for the season’s first major at Augusta National, where he has a lifetime invitation as a past champion and has consistently contended since winning the green jacket in 2018. He has six more DP World Tour events to choose from ahead of the Masters in Qatar, Kenya, two in South Africa, China and India.